Decision Letter on Request to Amend North Carolina Accountability Plan

July 20, 2006

The Honorable June St. Clair Atkinson
Superintendent of Public Instruction
North Carolina Department of Public Instruction
Education Building
301 North Wilmington Street
Raleigh, North Carolina 27601-2825

Dear Superintendent Atkinson:

I am writing in response to North Carolina's request to amend its State accountability
plan under Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA),
as amended by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB). Following
our discussions with your staff, the changes that are aligned with NCLB are now
included in an amended State accountability plan that North Carolina submitted
to the Department on July 12, 2006. I am pleased to fully approve North Carolina's
plan, which will be posted on the Department's website. A summary of the approved
amendments is enclosed with this letter.

As you know, any further requests to amend the North Carolina accountability
plan must be submitted to the Department for review and approval as required by
section 1111(f)(2) of Title I. I would also like to commend you again for meeting
the requirements of NCLB and having a fully approved assessment system. North
Carolina must continue to provide information to the Department for peer review
as it continues to develop its standards and assessments.

Please also be aware that approval of North Carolina's accountability plan
for Title I, including the amendments approved above, does not indicate that the
plan complies with Federal civil rights requirements, including Title VI of the
Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title IX of the Education Amendments of
1972, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, Title II of
the Americans with Disabilities Act, and requirements under the Individuals
with Disabilities Education Act.

NCLB has provided a vehicle for States to raise the achievement of all students
and to close the achievement gap. We are seeing the results of our combined endeavor;
achievement is rising throughout the nation. I appreciate North Carolina's efforts
to raise the achievement of all students and hold all schools accountable. If
you need any additional assistance to implement the standards, assessments, and
accountability provisions of NCLB, please do not hesitate to contact Patrick Rooney
(Patrick.Rooney@ed.gov) or Zollie Stevenson
(Zollie.Stevenson@ed.gov) of my staff.

Timely adequate yearly progress (AYP) reporting (Element 1.4)

Revision: North Carolina will report AYP results for the assessments
in the 2005–06 school year under a staggered schedule. The State will report
all high school AYP results and elementary and middle school AYP reading/language
arts results by June 30. Due to the implementation of a new mathematics assessment
and subsequent standards setting, the State will not report elementary and middle
school AYP mathematics results until October. Consequently, AYP determinations
for elementary and middle schools and local educational agencies (LEAs) based
upon reading/language arts results will be made in July. The State will prioritize
AYP mathematics calculations for those schools that are on the State "watch
list," (i.e., those schools and districts that have failed to make AYP for
at least one year). Schools and districts that are identified for improvement
based upon the 2005–06 mathematics results will begin offering interventions
immediately based upon the preliminary data released in October.

Growth model to determine AYP (Element 3.2)

Revision: As approved by the Department through a flexibility
agreement, North Carolina will implement a growth model as a means of determining
AYP for schools and districts. For details regarding the proposal, including the
approval letter, refer to: www.ed.gov/admins/lead/account/growthmodel/nc/index.html.

Including students with disabilities in AYP determinations (Element 5.3)

Revision: North Carolina will implement the Secretary's flexibility
regarding modified academic achievement standards (refer to: www.ed.gov/policy/speced/guid/secletter/051214a.html).
North Carolina will include as proficient (up to a 2.0 percent cap at the district
and State level) students who take the North Carolina EXTEND2 assessment, which
assesses grade-level academic standards and is based on modified achievement standards.
Please note that approval of this amendment by the Department does not constitute
approval of the NCEXTEND2 assessment by the Department as part of our responsibility
to ensure that State standards and assessment systems meet NCLB requirements.

Identification of LEAs for improvement (Element 5.5)

Revision: North Carolina will identify districts for improvement
only when they do not make AYP in the same subject or other indicator in all grade
spans (i.e., elementary, middle school and high school) for two consecutive years.
In implementing this provision, North Carolina should (1) monitor districts that
have not made AYP in one grade span but have not been identified for improvement
to ensure they are making the necessary curricular and instructional changes to
improve achievement, and (2) take steps to ensure that supplemental services are
available to eligible students from a variety of providers throughout the State
(including in LEAs that have not been identified for improvement but that have
schools that have been in improvement for more than one year).

Participation rate (Element 10.1)

Revision: North Carolina clarifies the calculation of participation
rates, including that students with invalid assessment scores are counted as non-participants.